Bottle-washing machine.



H. W. VAN LEIR.

BOTTLE WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 0013.10, 1907.

PATENTED AUG. 11, 1908 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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ain? PATENTED-AUG. 11, 1908. H.YW. VAN LEIR. BOTTLE WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 0GT.10, 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRYQW. VAN LEIR, OF PHILADELPHIAAPENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNORQTOQ THEZS. S.WENZELL MACHINE COMPANY, OF CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA, A CORPORATION OFWEST VIR- GINIA;

BOTTLE-WASHIN GgMACI-IINE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 11, 1908.

Application filed October 10, 1907. Serial No. 396,823.

1 To all whom it may concern:

cation.

My invention relates to that class of bottle washing machines in whichthe bottles are confined in an inverted position in a clamp ing frame,and are moved up and down over the rotating brushes, the object of myinvention being to provide simpler and more efficient means than thoseheretofore employed in machines of this class for automaticallyimparting such up-and-down motion to the bottle-carrying devices. Thisobject I attain in the manner hereinafter set forth, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a perspective view ofsufficient of a bottle washing machine of the type to which inventionrelates to illustrate said invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view, on anenlarged scale, of those parts of the machine to which the inventionrelates; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same, and Fig. 4 is a sectionon the line aa,, Fig. 3.

The machine has a base frame or bed 1 and a top frame 2 connectedtogether by vertical rods 3,4 and 5, and said base frame or bed is alsoprovided with a vertical frame 6, in which are formed bearings for ahorizontal shaft 7 having fast and loose pulleys 9 and 10 for thereception of the driving belt.

A vertical shaft 11 is geared to said horizontal shaft 7 by means ofbevel wheels 12 and 13, said vertical shaft also having a spur Wheel 14for driving the vertical brush-carrying spindles (not shown) which aresuitably mounted in a box or tank 15 and are contained within atelescopic casing 16 whose top plate 17 constitutes the lower member ofthe device for clamping the inverted bottles, said plate having, at eachside, bosses 19 which are vertically guided upon the vertical rods 3 and4 of the frame and carry other vertical rods 20'which are connected toupper bosses 21, likewise guided on the rods 3 and 4 and provided withbearings for a shaft 22 having cams 23 which act upon the top plate 24of the bottle clamping device, the latter having bosses 25 guided uponthe rods 3 and 4 and suspended from the upper bosses 21 by means ofcoiled springs 26. The lower bosses 19 are connected by means of links27 to counterbalanced levers 29, which are secured to a rock shaft 30,mounted in suitable bearings at the back of the boX or tank 15 of themachine. All of these parts are common to machines as heretoforeconstructed, and such machines have also been provided with means,driven from the vertical shaft 1 1, for imparting rocking movement tothe shaft 30 and thereby effecting the desired vertical movement of theinverted bottles during the operation of washing the same, and mypresent invention consists of a certain novel combination of parts foreffecting this latter result.

Secured to the shaft 11 is a worm 31 which meshes with a worm wheel 32upon a horizontalshaft 33, the latter being free to turn in suitablebearings 34 at the upper end of the vertical frame 6, and being providedat one end with a disk 35 which is securely confined to the shaft so asto be caused to rotate therewith.

Secured to and projecting from the disk 35, at a fixed distance from theaxis of the same, is a crank pin 36 which passes through an opening inthe enlarged lower end 37 of a rod 39, the latter being maintained inengagement with the crank pin by means of a nut 40 and washer 41, asshown in Figs. 2 and 3. The upper portion of the rod 39 has anenlargement 42 for the reception of a tubular sleeve 43, (see Fig. 4)said sleeve having, at one end, a flange 44 and being threaded at theother end for the reception of a nut 45, whereby the sleeve can be"rigidly clamped to the arm 39 when desired, the enlarged ortion 42 ofthe arm, however, being slotte as shown in Fig. 3, so that when the nut45 is loosened the arm can be readily swung out of engagement with thesleeve 43. The said sleeve 43 constitutes a bearing for a pin 46, whichis shouldered and threaded at one end for the reception of a nut 47, asshown in Fig. 4, the other end of said pin 46 being adapted to asegmental slot 49 in an arm 50 which is adjustably secured to the rockshaft 30 in a manner hereinafter described.

The pin 46 has a collar 51 bearing upon .same to the arm 57.

one face of the arm 50 and said pin is threaded for the reception of anut 52, betweenand can be rigidly secured to said arm in any of itsseveral positions of adjustment thereon, a pointer 54, operating in conunction wlth certain graduations on the outer face of the arm, as shownin Fig. 2, insuring accu racy of adjustment.

The arm 50 has a hub which is mounted so as to be capable of turning onthe rock shaft 30, but secured to said rook shaft,

alongside of the arm 50, is another hub 56,

which has a de ending arm 57 (see dotted lines, Fig. 3) an the lower endof said arm 57 has a projecting bolt 59 which passes through a segmentalslot 60 in the arm 50 and is threaded for the reception of a nut 61bearing upon said arm and serving to clamp the While said arm 50,therefore, bears a certain relation to the arm 57 on the shaft 30, whenthe machine is in operation, this relation can be changed within certainlimits by slackening the nut Gland swinging the arm 50 on said .rockshaft 30 in one direction or the other in respect to the arm 57.

The hub 56 of the arm 57 is secured to the rock shaft 30 in any suitableway, but by preference said hub is split, as shown in Fig. 3, andprovided with projecting lugs 62 for engagement with a clamping bolt 63,in order to permit of ready and accurate adjustment of. the hub 56 uponthe rock shaft.

As the shaft 33 is rotated, rocking movements are imparted to the shaft30 through the medium of the arms 57 and 50, the connecting rod 39, andthe crank pin of the disk 35, and this rocking movement of the shaft 30is caused to impart vertical reciprocating movement to the clampingframe carrying the inverted bottles, the extent of this move ment beingreadily and accurately regulated to accord with the particular length ofthe bottles which are being washed, by proper adjustment of the tubularsleeve or bushing 43 in the segmental slot 49 of the arm 50.

The vertical terminations of the reciproeating movements of thebottle-carrying frame can be varied by adjustment of the arm 50 inrespect to the arm 57, so as to insure proper contact of the brusheswith the bottoms of the bottles when'the bottle-carrying frame is at thelower limit of its movement, this adjustment being accomplished withoutin any way affecting the extent of vertical movement or length of strokeof said bottle-carrying frame.

By en aging a worm 31 on the vertical shaft 1 1 r ire'ctly with a wormwheel 32 on the shaft which carries the crank disk, a direct, positiveand powerful driving movement of said crank disk is effected and thenumber of gears previously employed in devices of this class ismaterially reduced, with consequent reduction in liability to injury ordisorganization of this part of the machine by reason of lackof care orrough treatment at the hands of the unskilled and careless attendants towhom bottle-washing machines are usually intrusted. Y

The adjustment of the upper end of the connecting rod 39 in respect tothe arm 50, taken in connection with the graduated index and pointer,also tends to prevent mistakes due to ignorance in effecting adjustmentof the machine for acting upon bottles of different lengths, andconstitutes a more accurate and effective means of accomplishing thisresult than radial adjustment of a crank pin on a slotted disk, as hasheretofore been proposed.

To facilitate the adjustment of the rod 39 in respect to the arm 50,said rod is extended above the arm and shaped so as to form a convenienthandle 64.

It will be evident that so far as the attainment of the desired objectof my invention is concerned it is immaterial Whether the bolt 59 iscarried by the arm 57 and the slot 60 is formed in the arm 50 or whetherthe construction is the reverse of this.

I claim 1. The combination, in a bottle-washing machine, of a mainframe, a vertically reciprocable bottle-carrying frame, a rock shalthaving a projecting arm with a segmental slot therein, means forconnecting said rock shaft to the bottle-carrying frame, a shaft havinga disk with a crank pin thereon occupying a fixed relation to the axisof said shaft, a rod hung to said crank pin, a pin carried by said rodand passing through the slot in the rock shaft arm, and means for securing said pin in different positions of ad j ustment in said slot.

2. The combination, in a bottle washing machine, of a main frame, avertically reciprocable bottle-carrying frame, a rock shaft having aprojecting arm, means for connecting said rock shaft to thebottle-carrying frame a shaft having a disk with a projecting crank pin,a rod connected to said pin and having an open-ended slot, a tubularsleeve or bushing adapted to said slot and provided with means forsecuring it to or releasing it from the rod, a pin free to turn in saidbushing, and means for securing said pin to the rock shaft arm.

3. The combination, in a bottle washing machine, of a main frame, avertically reciprocable bottle-carrying frame, a rock shaft having twoarms, one fixedly secured to said shaft and the other mounted so as toturn thereon, means for imparting rocking movename to thisspecification, in the presence of ment to the latter arm, and means forlocking two subscribing Witnesses.

the two arms together in difierent relative HENRY W. VAN LEIR. 5 angularadjustments and means for conneot- Witnesses:

ing said rock shaft to the bottle-carrying EDW. B. PoTTs,

frame.

THOs. S. LoUDERBAoK.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my'

